Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (Volume 1).pdf/347

Rh hour of his disaster and then kill him without any scruples. If he should happen to be great warrior, his hour of disaster also should be watched and he should then be induced to fly. O, sire, an enemy should never be scorned, however contemptible. A spark of fire is capable of consuming an extensive forest if only it can spread from one object to another in proximity. Kings should sometimes feign blindness and deatness, for if impotent to chastise, they should pretend not to notice the faults that call for chastisement. On occasion, such as these let them regard their bows as mode of straw. But they should be always on the alert like a herd of deer sleeping in the woods. When thy foe is in thy power, destroy him by every means open or secret. Do not show him any mercy, although he seeketh thy protection. A foe, or one that hath once injured thee, should be destroyed by lavishing money, if necessary, for by killing him thou mayest be at your ease. The dead can never inspire fear. Thou must destroy the three, five and seven (resources) of thy foes. Thou must destroy thy foes root and branch. Then shouldst thou destroy their allies and partisans. The allies and partisans can never exist if the principal be destroyed. If the root of the tree is torn up, the branches and twigs can never exist as before. Carefully concealing thy own means and ends. thou shouldst always watch thy foes, always seeking their flaws. Thou shouldst, o king, rule thy kingdom, always anxiously watching thy foes. By maintaining the perpetual fire by sacrifices, by brown cloths, by matted locks, and by hides of animals for thy bedding, shouldst thou at first gain the confidence of thy foes, and when thou hast gained it thou shouldst then spring upon them like a wolf. For it hath been said that in the acuisition of wealth even the garb of holiness might be employed as a hooked staff to bend down a branch in order to pluck the fruits that are ripe. The method followed in the plucking of fruits should be the method in destroying foes, for thou shouldst proceed on the principle of selection. Bear thy foe upon thy shoulders till the time cometh when thou canst throw him down, breaking him into pieces like an earthen pot thrown down with violence upon a stony surface. The foe must never be let off even though he addresseth thee most piteously. No pity shouldst thou show him but slay him at once. By the arts of conciliation or the expenditure of money should the foe be slain. By creating disunion amongst his allies, or by the employment of force, indeed by very means in thy power shouldst thou destroy thy foe.'

"Dhritarashtra said, -Tell me truly how can a foe be destroyed by the arts of conciliation or the expenditure of money, or by producing disunion or by the employment of force.